Are solar panels suitable for my home?
Investing in solar panels can save you hundreds of pounds a year on energy bills and help the
environment by not using fossil fuels. But if you’re deciding whether your home is suitable to have
them installed, here’s some advice on what you need to know.
Getting the best results from solar panels
An illustration of how solar panels power your home
Ideally, your roof should be south facing and at an angle of around 30 degrees to be in the best
position to generate the most electricity.
However, solar panels will still work if your roof faces in any other direction and can be installed
onto a flat roof with a mount (this places it on an angle). This won’t generate as much electricity
but it will still be a significant amount.
View our case study and find out how Mr Johnson and Mrs Rudkin benefitted by switching to solar energy.
What if it’s cloudy?
There’s a myth that solar panels do not work on cloudy days but we can confirm that it isn’t true,
they will still generate electricity.
This is because solar panels do not require direct sunlight to work, they generate electricity using
the sun’s rays. If you’ve been to the beach on a cloudy day and comeback with sunburn, you’ve
experienced this effect.
The panels will generate about 10-25% of their rated capacity in cloudy weather, dependant on
how thick the cloud is. However, all that matters is how much sun you get all year round.
Solar remains Britons’ most popular energy generation technology
Solar panel installer in shropshire the most popular energy generation technology amongst Brits,
according to the latest results of the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s public opinion
tracker.
The tenth wave of DECC’s public attitudes tracker reveals that support for renewables is still
extremely high, with 79% of those polled expressing support for the generation of energy from
renewable sources.
In particular, solar enjoys the most support with 82% of those asked supporting its deployment in
the UK followed by wave and tidal (73%), offshore wind (72%), onshore wind (67%) and biomass
(60%).
The findings of the survey suggest that the government’s assumption that increased solar farm
deployment would adversely affect public support for solar is misplaced. In April, the ex-climate
change minister, Greg Barker told Solar Power Portal that he wanted investors to turn their
attention away from ground-mount to rooftop solar in order to “avoid solar becoming the new
onshore wind”. Since then the UK has seen record ground-mount deployment that has driven the
sector to the 5GW cumulative install milestone this month.
Shale fail
The government figures show that support for fracking is dropping with just 24% of Brits
supporting the extraction of shale gas – down from 29% in March 2014. The figure is in stark
contrast to polling data published by UK Onshore Oil and Gas which claimed that 57% of Brits
supported fracking. The survey was widely criticised for leading questions and misleading
question structure.
Other things to consider
With those things in mind, you’ll also need to look if there are any obstacles that could block the
rays from reaching the panels. For example: trees, an extension on a building, or something even
bigger.